The disclosure relates generally to optical calibration, and specifically to systems for optically calibrating cameras.
Cameras include detectors and other electronic components that emit heat while active. The emitted heat may cause various components of the camera to undergo thermal expansion. A camera lens assembly includes an optical center (i.e., location where rays of light from two different sources entering the lens are assumed to cross), and a distance from the optical center to the detector is a focal length of the lens assembly. Virtual reality (VR) systems may use the location of the optical center to map locations in a local area being imaged by the camera to individual pixels in the detector. As the camera heats up (e.g., during operation) thermal expansion may cause the location of the optical center and the corresponding focal length to change. The changes in the location of the optical center may adversely affect the mapping of locations in the local area to locations on the detector. Moreover, as the location of the optical center moves it may cause blurring in captured images.